Turkish PEN Centre

15 April 2008, Istanbul Dear President Sebastiano Grasso, Dear Members of Italian PEN, Dear Friends, We are deeply frustrated because of Pippa Bacca’s murder. Such a noble person, such a tragedy. On behalf of all our members, we express our condolences to you all. On 19 April, our Centre’s Women Writers Committee is organizing a meeting about the Turkish feminist writers of the 19th and 20th centuries. The Committee has decided to dedicate the meeting to beloved Pippa Bacca, who has become a sister to us. Fraternally,

Dear colleagues and friends, We would like to inform you that the Macedonian PEN and the public in the Republic of Macedonia have been disturbed recently by the latest attempts for change of the constitutional name of our country. Some of the new proposals are direct attack of the national identity and harsh attempt for annulment of the lingual and cultural identity of the Macedonian people. The point of the negotiations and the latest proposal of the mediator in the Macedonian – Greek conflict about the name Mr. Matthew Nimetz with

When I was young, in that earlier period of  my life, which now seems
so far away, I read a short story: "On Tuesday" (Bu Salı). The
writer was a young man who had spent the most exciting years of his youth
during the war.
"There is only one Tuesday in every week."
Fifty in every year.
And, many, during war-time."
Wolfang Borchert  died in 1947 when he was only twenty six. He had written
extraordinary short stories and had tried to protect them from the war.

"In the evening, Ulla was writing the following sentence in capital letters:

DURING THE WAR, EVERYONE'S FATHER IS A SOLDIER.
DURING THE WAR, EVERYONE'S FATHER IS A SOLDIER.

She wrote this sentence ten times.  In capital letters. And she wrote the
word 'war' as she would have written 'sugar'.'
 Kamuran Şipal, an unknown master, translated "Bu Salı" (On Tuesday) into
our own  language. It is a very good translation, as if  written
originally in Turkish. It is obvious that all  succesful short story
writers in every region of the world, are in fact sisters and brothers.
War, the worst and greatest chronic disease on earth,  will never succeed
in putting an end to this sisterhood and brotherhood.

Borchert, who never lost his trust in the superiority of human dignity,
while he was in prison during the war, is still protesting,
against this greatest,  most chronic disease that exists on the earth,
even today, now,at this very moment.

May all those who write about peace and all those who read the works of
those who write about peace have a happy World Short Story Day.

Selim İLERİ
(Translated into English by Aysu ERDEN with Beverly BARBEY)

Action Marking the First Anniversary of the Murder of Hrant Dink "For Hrant, For Justice"

9 January 2007

Saturday 19 January marks the first anniversary of the murder of Hrant Dink in Istanbul. International PEN is supporting the "Hrant Için, Adalet Için" (For Hrant, For Justice) campaign being run by a consortium of Turkish organisations who are staging events in Istanbul in commemoration of Hrant Dink. Posters and banners have been produced for the events with slogans including "For Hrant, For Justice" and "What Happened on 19 January?". A website has been launched in Turkish and English which gives information on the events being staged in Turkey and abroad. For details of the commemorations and to download posters, go to the website: www.hranticinadaleticin.com/en/invite.html

Skopje, 12.12.2007

To the Executive Board of PEN International – London

Dear colleagues,

The Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee of PEN International and its office in Skopje, Macedonia, wants to support the initiative of the Turkish PEN Centre - The Short Story Day (February, 14) to be included in the Calendar of Culture of UNESCO in the near future.

We are supporting this initiative of the Turkish PEN, again in the last few years, because of its purpose:

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN protests the detention of journalists and women’s rights defenders Maryam Hosseinkhah and Jelveh Javaheri on 18 November 2007 and 1 December 2007 respectively for their articles posted online. PEN seeks guarantees of their well-being, and urges that whilst detained they are granted access to their lawyers, family and any necessary medical care. International PEN considers Maryam Hosseinkhah and Jelveh Javaheri to be detained in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a signatory, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.

International PEN’s Writers in Committee is seriously concerned for the safety of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin, who is in a government safe house following violent protests by Muslim extremists in Kolkata, West Bengal. PEN welcomes the efforts by the Indian authorities to provide her protection, and urges the Indian authorities to ensure her safe passage and return to her home in Kolkata, West Bengal, at the earliest opportunity.

Taslima Nasreen has been awarded Honorary membership of Turkish PEN Centre for her struggle for secularism and women’s rights. (Istanbul, 24 November 2007)

Born in Bangladesh in 1962, Dr Taslima Nasreen calls herself a secular-humanist. She has been under threat for her critical approach against religious fundamentalism. An exile since 1994, she has been in Sweden, Germany, USA and India. She is under protection in an undiscosed district in Delhi.

Dear friends,

I have the pleasure to send you the new issue ( №10, 2007 ) of the bulletin Bulgarian PEN.

My best wishes!

Gueorgui Konstantinov

President of the Bulgarian PEN-centre

The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN condemns the murder of Birendra Shah, a freelance journalist, whose body was found on 8 November 2007 after being kidnapped by Maoist cadres on 5 October 2007. Maoist authorities issued a statement on 5 November confirming that members of their party were responsible for Shah’s death, and that he had been murdered on the day of his abduction.